


Garulas and Goof-Ups

by TimidMarshmallow



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Cold, Garulas, Oops, Timed Quest, be careful please, spells, vesperpool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 07:06:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14373501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimidMarshmallow/pseuds/TimidMarshmallow
Summary: When throwing a spell, please be aware of the environment and any potential hazards.





	Garulas and Goof-Ups

**Author's Note:**

> Just another timed quest story :)

It was raining. 

It always rained when they came to the Vesperpool, so no one was really surprised. What was surprising was that nobody had thought to pack umbrellas before leaving Insomnia. They wouldn't have even needed to use trunk space, Noctis could have stuck it in the armiger for them to access at any time. He kept his fishing rod there, four umbrellas wouldn't be much harder to store. 

Now would've been a good time to pull an umbrella from a magical inventory, but alas, all four men had overlooked such a basic necessity. 

"Ugh, camping sucks when it rains." They were trudging to the haven. Dave had informed them of a rampaging herd of garula that was threatening the sahagin population. The mammals usually didn't live in this area, and their presence was throwing things out of balance. The large herd had no problem taking out the reptilian predators as long as the garulas stayed together. Sania had been called to study the behavior and determine a solution, but she was at the Alstor Slough. Dave had opted to contact Noctis and his friends to see if they were closer. 

(Unfortunately) They were. 

So, here they were, camping before their big job tomorrow. Scaring the herd away would not be an easy task, because it consisted of garulets, garulas, and the much larger garulessas. The animals would likely be on guard in the unfamiliar habitat. 

"Less whining, more working." Gladio began setting up the tent. Prompto helped, eager to get inside and dry off. Ignis sighed. Dinner would have to be cup noodles, he couldn't use the stovetop in this weather. And there was absolutely no way he was going to try setting it up inside the tent. 

Noctis flopped on the floor of the now pitched tent. "Next time someone calls us, remind me to say no." 

"We need the gil. We can also harvest some meat for cooking, and surely we can sell the rest." 

Prompto furrowed his brows as Ignis spoke. "I thought we were supposed to be scaring the herd away, not killing it..." 

"You know how garulas are. If they sense danger they'll start fighting. It's our job to clear them out. Dave didn't say we had to be especially careful." Gladio helped Ignis set up the cup noodles faster. 

Prompto hummed in understanding. "Yeah, I guess." Noctis rolled over to smack his leg. "Hey, we'll be fine. Stop worrying."

The men ate their noodles quickly, the more sleep they got the better. The raindrops stomping on the tent lulled them into a sense of security, and no one commented on how they had all huddled together. 

-o-

The sun was making up for hiding yesterday. 

Noctis shielded his eyes as he emerged from the tent. Prompto passed him a plate of scrambled birdbeast eggs, Ignis was already cleaning up the cooking equipment. "We can leave the tent here, as we'll likely return to rest once our task is completed." 

Gladio nodded. "Yep. It's not like anyone will touch it." 

"Should we bother calling chocobos? The hunt isn't that far..." Noctis waited for Prompto's inevitable input. Sure enough, the blond scoffed. "Why would we miss a chance to ride the chocobos? Besides, you rented them for a week. We have to get our gil's worth!" 

"He has a point. If we're spending our funds, we'd best take advantage of the service. It will also give us a small break before we begin fighting." Ignis was glad he wouldn't hear their whining about the walk over. 

Noctis pulled the whistle out. The high pitched note was followed by the kwehing of four large birds. Mounting up, the men took off. The shallow pool where the garula herd had invaded was a short ride from the campsite. Jumping off of the chocobos, they sloshed through the water to spook the animals. 

One of the garulets ran closer to a garulessa, and the adult animal regarded the men who had startled it. Was it worth picking a fight? 

Noctis stepped closer. 

The garulessa charged, taking the approach as a challenge. A smaller garula rushed to aid the defending herdmate. 

Oh chocobo turds. There were a lot more of these animals than they had expected. The men were quickly surrounded, and it became clear that a peaceful solution was no longer an option. Noctis yelled to his best friend. “Do it, Prompto!”

“Okey-dokey!” Prompto aimed at one of the charging garulas as Ignis flipped over his first kill. Bullet after bullet stopped some of the animals from hurting the other three fighters. 

Noctis pulled out a spell. “Ready? Don’t get hit!” The magic flask flew from his hand and he realized something as he flipped away from the blast zone.

Something he should have thought of two seconds earlier. 

He had thrown a blizzaga. 

They were all standing in shallow water. 

The powerful magic exploded, and everything froze. The water around their ankles turned into an icy prison. Gladio cursed, Ignis gasped at the sudden pain, and Prompto almost fell over. The blond managed to remain upright, and immediately started yanking on his leg in an attempt to free himself. 

The king hurried to create a fire spell, hoping that it would melt his mistake. “Sorry, guys, are you okay!?” 

“No! My legs! I can’t really feel them anymo-“ “-ot the wisest move, really, Noct, what-“ “-trying to kill us instead!?” 

Noctis glanced up from the flask as his friends continued to panic and complain. He noticed all the garula were also frozen in place. Thank goodness, they wouldn’t have stood a chance if the animals had been free to attack them while they were stuck. 

“Uh, guys, this fire spell won’t be strong enough to melt all this...” Noctis looked at the ingredients he had, and he didn’t have the stuff to make a firaga. Anything weaker than that would do nothing. Ignis sighed. Once again, he’d have to think of something on the spot. (He was good at that, which was to be expected. He was royal advisor for a reason.)

He pushed up his glasses and scanned their environment. Okay, frozen friends, frozen enemies... enemies that would likely go into a blind rage once they were free... 

If only there was a way to attack them while they were all still stuck. The only one with long range weapons was-

“Prompto! Keep shooting!” 

The blond stopped trying to dislodge himself and summoned a gun. He fired at the garulas, taking down five before Noctis gave up on making the spell. The king summoned one of the guns that Prompto didn’t really use anymore. 

Ignis and Gladio weren’t just slacking off as the younger two defeated their bounty. No, they were trying to chip at the ice with their daggers and sword, respectively.

The one-sided fight continued for a few minutes, with the king and his friends winning. “There are five left!” 

Well, four now. The advisor’s count was ignored as the king aimed at the next one. Prompto summoned his other pistol and began dual wielding. Rapid fire defeated the last few garulas just as Gladio yelled for him to make it count. “Ya like that?” 

“Solid!” Noctis grinned at their victory. 

The celebration was short-lived though. Now, instead of being trapped and frozen in the water with the threat of garulas, they were trapped and frozen in the water with dead garulas... which meant they had nothing to distract them from the problem of being trapped and frozen. 

“Ignis, how long does it take ice to melt?” Noctis summoned a sword to imitate the older two. It would take longer to free himself, he hadn’t been hacking away the entire time like they had. 

“Depends on the conditions, varying factors...” Ignis answered distractedly, he was still trying to break the ice around his ankles. “I’m more worried about circulation. I don’t fancy having to amputate.”

“Yeah, it would be pretty hard to get to Altissia if we lost use of our feet. How would we drive?” Gladio slammed down particularly hard on the ice. For all his ‘nonchalance’, he really was concerned. Of course, he wasn’t full blown panicking the way Prompto now was. The gunner had been contemplating which weapon to borrow from the Armiger, since shooting himself free was not an option. The mental rundown of their inventory was abandoned when he realized the advisor was right. 

If they stayed frozen there, they would be in big trouble. 

“Guys? I kind of like my legs! Are you sure you don’t have the stuff for a firaga, Noct!?” Prompto started checking his pockets, maybe he had something he could hand over?

Noctis huffed, irritated. “No, but I’m an idiot.” He stopped trying to smash the ice, but he didn’t bother checking his pockets. His friends looked at him, confused. “I should’ve done this earlier.” 

Noctis warped out of the ice. 

Despite still being stuck themselves, the other three laughed. “How did you forget that? How did we ALL forget that you could do that?” Prompto reached out to his best friend. “Now you can help get us out.” 

Ignis smiled. “No need. I’ve managed to get one foot loose! Now to set about freeing the other...” His precise work had aided in his speedy release. Gladio kept hacking away too. “Free Blondie, I’m good over here.” 

“Okay, Prompto, stay still. I’m gonna get you out.” Noctis knelt to set about freeing his youngest friend. He had only been working for a minute when he felt the blond tapping him on the head. “Noct! I’m really grateful, but, uh, can you hurry up!? There are sahagins over there and it looks like they’re getting closer!”

The older three glanced up. Prompto was right. “The irregular lake conditions and the smell of the dead garulas must be attracting them.” Ignis paused to push up his glasses. “Prompto, if you please...” He gave the gunner a pointed look. 

“Oh, yeah, haha! Don’t know why I was freaking out.” Prompto summoned his gun again as the other three kept chipping away ice. When Ignis got himself free he went to help Gladio, leaving the sahagin disposal to Prompto’s bullets. 

Noctis snuck a peek at the monsters. They were all on the ground, still. “Nice work, Prompto.” 

“Eh heheh, all in a day’s work!” 

“Hopefully nothing else will bother us now.” Gladio yanked one foot free, finally, and scanned the distance. “We should be okay for now.”

-o-

They had shakily returned to camp. 

Once free, they had summoned the chocobos. Walking hurt, and they were happy that the birds didn’t mind carrying them to the haven. “I owe you a whole bucket of sylkis greens, yes I do!” 

“Prompto, leave the chocobo alone.” Noctis flopped onto the ground, exhausted. “Hey, where’s my reward for thawing you out?” 

Gladio joined in the teasing as Ignis wobbily retrieved four pots. He’d warm some water for them to put their feet in and just wash the pots once they were feeling better. “Why should he give you anything, it’s your fault we got stuck in the first place!”

“Shut up.” Noctis rolled over to sit up. “Ugh, I need to call Dave.” 

“All that can wait until after we’ve recovered and eaten. The meat from the garulas should be fine for a while longer, we can go salvage what’s left later.” Ignis monitored the water, making sure it didn’t get too hot. When all four pots were a reasonable temperature they sat down with their feet in the water. 

“Mmm this feels sooo gooooood...” Prompto took off his denim vest. It was still damp from the fight in the lake. “Could really use a bath...” 

“Yeah, we’ll stop at Meldacio after we’re all done here. The caravan there has running water.” Noctis was already starting to fall asleep, the warmth of the water lulling him. Ignis sighed, not wanting to get up just yet to cook. “Alright, ten more minutes and I’ll begin cooking.”

“King’s Knight?” Prompto held up his phone as a challenge, and the other two accepted as the king drifted off. 

The men enjoyed this stolen moment of peace after such a harrowing day.


End file.
